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President Donald Trump on Wednesday named a right-wing media critic as the US ambassador to South Africa, at a time that Washington’s relations with one of the continent’s richest countries are in free fall.If confirmed in the role by the US Senate, Brent Bozell would be stepping into the job just after the Trump administration threw out South Africa’s own envoy to the United States following perceived criticism of the president.”I am pleased to announce that Brent Bozell will be our next United States Ambassador to South Africa,” Trump posted on his social media platform.”Brent is the Founder of the Media Research Center, which has exposed Fake News hypocrites for many years,” he added, saying Bozell “brings fearless tenacity, extraordinary experience, and vast knowledge to a Nation that desperately needs it.”The Media Research Center is a non-profit that says it works to “expose and counter the leftist bias of the national news media.”The New York Times reported that Bozell’s son was one of almost 1,600 people convicted and sentenced for their role in the January 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol by Trump supporters, and who was pardoned by the president when he took office this year.Ties between Washington and Pretoria have slumped since Trump cut financial aid to South Africa over what he alleges is its anti-white land policy, its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and other foreign policy clashes.Egged on by his South Africa-born right-hand man Elon Musk, Trump has accused the country’s government of discriminating against its white minority and last month signed an executive order offering refugee status to Afrikaners, the ethnic minority that once ran the country’s apartheid system.Expelled ambassador Ebrahim Rasool was given a hero’s welcome on his return to South Africa, telling cheering supporters: “It was not our choice to come home, but we come home with no regrets.”South Africa, the current president of the Group of 20 leading economies, last week said it considered improving its relationship with the United States a priority.The United States is South Africa’s second-biggest trading partner.

“Stop Hiring Humans” read a provocative sign at an AI conference in Las Vegas, where the impact of new artificial intelligence models on the world of work had sparked some unease.”We’re not worried about tiptoeing around. We’re sparking the conversation,” said Fahad Alam of Artisan, a startup, at the HumanX AI event.The San Francisco company is promoting AI agents — virtual sales representatives that identify potential customers, contact them, write emails, and schedule appointments.AI agents, which are supposed to make decisions that are usually made by humans, have become the latest buzzword of the generative AI story that began with the release of ChatGPT in 2022.With its offering, Artisan’s typical avatar, Ava, costs 96 percent less than a human performing the same tasks, according to the company’s website.The startup’s straight-to-the-point approach sharply contrasts with most generative AI companies, who tread cautiously on whether ChatGPT-like technologies will leave human workers unemployed by the wayside.”I don’t fundamentally think it’s about displacing employees as much as better leveraging them for the things only humans can do,” said Josh Constine of SignalFire, a venture capital firm.Predictions can vary wildly. Goldman Sachs estimates AI could eliminate 300 million jobs globally through automation.An 2024 Metrigy report found 89 percent of firms surveyed reduced customer relations staff in the previous year due to generative AI.On the other hand, 70 percent of major companies surveyed by the World Economic Forum said they planned to hire workers with AI-related skills in the coming years.”It’s natural evolution,” said Joe Murphy of D-iD, which offers video avatars and recently struck a partnership with Microsoft. “Like the car’s invention, AI will create a new sector. Jobs will be created and lost simultaneously.”Supporting this theory, data from the US Department of Labor shows jobs for secretaries and administrative assistants fell from 4.1 million to 3.4 million between 1992 and 2023, coinciding with the rise of office computing.During the same period, the number of computer scientists more than doubled, from approximately 500,000 to 1.2 million.Still, given the sensitivities about replacing humans, some advise discretion.”You’re selling software that replaces a significant part of their team,” said Tomasz Tunguz, founder of Theory Ventures. “You can’t sell that overtly.””Some clients candidly don’t want it known they’re using AI,” added Alam.- ‘Inevitable’ -There is little doubt that some kind of upheaval of the workplace is underway, but its precise impact remains uncertain.Analysts predict job losses for programmers, call center operators, translators, and travel agents.However, others caution against taking bold statements — or reassurances — by startups at face value.”Technology innovators learn communication skills by overstating the positive, underplaying the negative,” said Mark Hass, marketing professor at Arizona State University.But many startups reject the notion they’re misleading on job impacts.”The majority of people we’re talking to aren’t doing this because of efficiency. They’re doing this because of top-line revenue growth,” said Paloma Ochi of Decagon, a marketing AI startup. “And when the business grows, that’s good for everyone. There are going to be more jobs for humans within that business.””Most customers don’t want to let people go,” said Joshua Rumsey, a senior sales engineer at Aisera, whose AI agents are used in finance and HR. Though they are “looking to grow without hiring new agents as existing ones leave.”Given the disruptions, Hass advocated for greater transparency, warning that surprising the public with negative impacts on livelihoods could lead to backlash.”Talking about the implications doesn’t weaken the case for AI, because I think it’s inevitable. Not talking about it in a wholesome way creates the opportunity for misunderstanding,” he said.

Congressional Republicans on Wednesday took aim at federal funding for US public media, including radio network NPR and broadcast channel PBS, accusing them of “brainwashing the American people” during a hearing.”We will be calling for the complete and total defunding and dismantling of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB),” said Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a hard-right supporter of President Donald Trump, in reference to the nonprofit which oversees US public media funding.Addressing the heads of National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, Greene said: “The content that is being put out through these state-sponsored outlets is so radical it is brainwashing the American people, and more significantly American children.”Greene criticized the outlets for pushing a political agenda which included “the LGBTQ indoctrination of children,” and “the systemic racism narrative,” as well as being “anti-family, pro-crime fake news.”The attacks by Greene echo media criticism by other Republicans and Trump, who frequently refers to legacy news media as the “enemy of the people.”Greene also sits on the House Committee on Government Efficiency, formed in support of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Trump’s billionaire advisor Elon Musk and charged with slashing federal spending.However, the CPB — established nearly 60 years ago — has already had its budget approved by Congress until 2027, with over $500 million in funding.Some 40 million Americans tune in to NPR at least once a week, and about 36 million watch their local PBS station each month, according to estimates from the outlets.The Republican congresswoman from Georgia went on to say NPR and PBS have grown to become “radical left-wing echo chambers for a narrow audience of mostly wealthy, white, urban liberals and progressives.”The critiques drew fierce blowback from Democrats, including Representative Jasmine Crockett from Texas, who said Greene wants “to shut down everybody that is not Fox News,” a broadcaster preferred by many conservatives.NPR chief executive Katherine Maher estimated the radio station received $120 million from the CPB in 2025, “less than five percent” of its budget.Brian Jack, another Republican representative from Georgia, asked Maher if NPR could survive without the funding.”It would be incredibly damaging to the national radios system,” Maher said. “If federal funding for our network goes away, it means that people in rural parts of America would be harmed.”Democrat Stephen Lynch was also critical of the way Republicans led the hearing, saying it should be “talking about the security breach that occurred recently,” in reference to the leaked Signal group chat among US government officials.”Today the controlling House majority is afraid to do its job, it is afraid to hold Trump and Trump’s administration accountable.”

Disney’s Marvel Studios on Wednesday revealed the bumper cast of its next “Avengers” film, six years after “Avengers: Endgame” became the highest-grossing movie of all time.Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are among those surprisingly returning to the superhero roster for “Avengers: Doomsday,” out May 2026.They will join a raft of widely expected fan favorites, including Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Hemsworth, a viral five-hour-long video announcement confirmed.The Marvel superhero films are comfortably the most lucrative franchise in Hollywood history, having collectively made more than $30 billion.As its title suggests, “Avengers: Doomsday” is intended to be an ensemble blockbuster event in the style of the franchise’s pinnacle, 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” which grossed $2.8 billion.”Endgame” was briefly the highest-grossing movie in history, before the original “Avatar” reclaimed its crown with a theatrical re-release.Like “Endgame,” “Doomsday” will again team up characters and wrap up storylines in a grand finale to more than a dozen preceding Marvel films.While several returning superheroes — and the actors playing them — had been previously announced, Marvel revealed the whole set in a livestreamed video.Surprises included octogenarian thespians Stewart and McKellen, who previously appeared in early “X-Men” films but were thought to have been written out or recast.Returning favorites include Hemsworth’s Thor, Paul Rudd’s Ant Man, and Tom Hiddleston’s Loki.Actors’ names were written on the backs of Hollywood-style directors’ chairs, with a camera slowly panning from one to the next every 10-15 minutes until ending with Downey Jr. appearing in-person. Marvel previously announced that the Oscar winner will return to the franchise as the villainous Doctor Doom.”It all leads to Doom. #AvengersDoomsday is now in production,” said an accompanying message.Downey Jr. kick-started the Marvel big-screen phenomenon back in 2008, playing an entirely different character — Iron Man.The franchise went on an unprecedented red-hot box office streak, raking in billions of dollars.Post-“Endgame,” the films have lost some luster, with a dozen movies since receiving mostly weaker reviews. Box office receipts have also fallen from their peak, though are still enviable compared with almost any other Hollywood franchise.Wednesday’s viral unveiling demonstrates how key to Marvel and Disney the success of “Avengers: Doomsday” — and 2027 follow-up “Avengers: Secret Wars” — will be.The video was watched nearly four million times in its first seven hours.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday dismissed a scandal over leaked plans for Yemen air strikes as a “witch hunt” and defended his embattled Pentagon chief amid calls by Democrats for him to quit.Republican Trump lashed out after the Atlantic Magazine published the transcript of messages accidentally shared with its editor in a chat group of senior US officials on Signal, a commercially available messaging app.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed details in the chat including the times of strikes on Iran-backed Huthi rebels and the type of aircraft, missiles and drones used, before the attacks actually happened, the Atlantic said.”Hegseth is doing a great job, he had nothing to do with this,” Trump said when asked by AFP in the Oval Office whether Hegseth should consider his position over the scandal.”How do you bring Hegseth into this? Look, look it’s all a witch hunt,” added Trump, who was taking questions after announcing new tariffs on foreign-made cars.Trump repeated his insistence that no classified information was shared in the breach, and added that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz “took responsibility” for the error.It was Waltz who mistakenly added journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to the chat, sparking what has been dubbed “Signalgate” in the biggest scandal since Trump returned to power in January.- ‘Resign in disgrace’ -The magazine initially withheld the details of the attack plans, but finally published them on Thursday after White House had insisted that no classified details were involved and attacked Goldberg as a liar.The White House and a string of officials involved in the chat lined up to try to downplay the story as the pressure mounted.Hegseth, visiting Hawaii, himself said the exchange on March 15 involved “No names. No targets.”US Vice President JD Vance, who fired a rifle on a shooting range while visiting a Marines base near Washington, said the Atlantic had “overplayed” what happened.Only Secretary of State Marco Rubio admitted that there had been a “big mistake,” while highlighting his own limited role.Democrats have trained much of their fire on Hegseth, a former Fox News contributor and veteran.”The secretary of defense should be fired immediately if he’s not man enough to own up to his mistakes and resign in disgrace,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries told MSNBC.Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth said Trump should sack all the officials in the chat and called Hegseth a “liar” who “could’ve gotten our pilots killed.”Meanwhile Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was seeking an independent report from the Trump administration.- ‘Anti-Trump hater’ -The Atlantic said the texting was done barely half an hour before the first US warplanes took off to hit the Huthis on March 15 — and two hours before the first target was expected to be bombed.”1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)”, Hegseth writes, referring to US Navy jet fighters, before adding that “Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME.””1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets).”Hegseth wrote also writes about the use of US drones and Tomahawk cruise missiles.A short time later, Waltz sent real-time intelligence on the aftermath of an attack, writing that US forces had identified the target “walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed.”Peppered with questions at a daily press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described Goldberg as an “anti-Trump hater.”Elon Musk, the billionaire running a huge government cost-cutting drive for Trump, had offered “technical experts” to find out how he was added to the chat, she added.Trump’s comments came as Huthi media said late Wednesday that new US strikes had hit the rebel-held capital Sanaa, after earlier reporting 19 American raids elsewhere in  Yemen. His administration has stepped up attacks on the Huthi rebels in response to constant attempts to sink and disrupt shipping through the strategic Red Sea. The Huthis claim they are acting in solidarity with Gaza amid Hamas’s war on Israel.

New York’s storied Frick Collection will reopen its doors on April 17 after five years closed to the public for a major renovation which curators hope will future-proof the collection of former coal and steel magnate Henry Clay Frick.”The Frick is back!” proclaimed Axel Rueger, director of the museum — a 20th century mansion filled with paintings, sculptures, and decorative pieces dating from the Renaissance to the 19th century.The collection of approximately 1,800 works includes works from Rembrandt, Vermeer, Whistler and Fragonard. The top-to-bottom renovation, which cost $330 million and saw the collection temporarily transferred to another Manhattan location, features 10 new rooms on the first floor, where the family’s private quarters used to be.It also includes a new 218-seat auditorium built below the garden, and direct access to the Frick Art Library, founded a century ago by Helen Clay Frick — the magnate’s only daughter — and converted into a global hub for art history research.”It’s been like a massive jigsaw puzzle in getting everything together and getting everything to work together,” said deputy director Xavier Salomon, who proudly declared that many details had been restored to their 1935 state when the museum first opened.Frick left the building and his art collection to be enjoyed by the public after his death in 1919. The art enthusiast also wanted his collection to be expanded with works reflecting his interests, said Salomon. The collection has more than doubled in size since it was first put on public display.”Everything has to change for everything to remain the same,” said Salomon. Starting June 18, the museum will exhibit “Vermeer’s Love Letters,” celebrating the Dutch painter by displaying three of his most celebrated works in the same gallery for the first time — including two special loans.Ian Wardropper, the former director of the Frick Collection who oversaw the transformation, said “our goal and priority have always been to preserve and revitalize the experience that makes the Frick so unique.”

Emarketer on Wednesday forecast that ad revenue at X, formerly Twitter, will grow this year as brands fear retaliation by politically connected owner Elon Musk if they stay away.X’s billionaire owner, the world’s richest person, is a major financial backer of US President Donald Trump, and heads a Department of Government Efficiency that has been slashing the ranks of government employees.”Many advertisers may view spending on X as a cost of doing business in order to mitigate potential legal or financial repercussions,” said Emarketer principal analyst Jasmine Enberg.”But fear is not a sustainable motivator and the situation remains volatile, partly as some consumers’ discontent toward Musk grows.”Also factored into the expectation that X will have its first year of positive ad growth since 2021 was Meta’s decision to drop or amend content moderation protocols, as the tech giant cozies up to Trump.Industry watchers expect the hateful content that has flourished on X under Musk to also pervade Meta’s platforms as the changes go into effect. Emarketer expects X ad revenue worldwide to grow 16.5 percent this year, after losing ground annually since Musk bought Twitter for about $44 billion in late 2022.”X’s ad business is recovering, but it’s too soon to call it a rebound,” Enberg said.The social media platform’s forecasted revenue this year will still be less than it was in 2019, according to Emarketer.X has managed to attract advertising from small- and medium-sized businesses that Twitter historically struggled to win over, the analyst said.Meta’s recent decision to ease off on moderating content could be benefitting X, Enberg reasoned.Emarketer forecast that Meta ad revenue will grow slightly more than 11 percent in the United States this year.”While advertisers still care about brand safety, many are getting a reality check that they may not have as much control over where and how their ads show up as they thought,” Enberg said.”The kind of hateful and controversial content that prompted advertisers to flee X is no more acceptable, but there is a sense that it could become unavoidable.”

US President Donald Trump ramped up his claims to Greenland on Wednesday, saying ahead of a visit by Vice President JD Vance that the United States needed to take control of the Danish island for “international security.”Since coming to power in January, Trump has repeatedly insisted that he wants the self-governed territory to be in Washington’s grip, refusing to rule out the use of force to do so.”We need Greenland for international safety and security. We need it. We have to have it,” Trump told podcaster Vince Coglianese. “I hate to put it that way, but we’re going to have to have it.”Greenland, which is seeking independence from Denmark, holds massive untapped mineral and oil reserves, though oil and uranium exploration are banned.It is also strategically located between North America and Europe at a time of rising US, Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic, where sea lanes have opened up because of climate change.Asked if he thought Greenlanders were eager to join the United States, Trump said he did not know.”We have to convince them,” he said. “And we have to have that land, because it’s not possible to properly defend a large section of this Earth, not just the United States, without it.”Trump’s comments prompted Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to say on her Facebook account: “We mustn’t have illusions — President Trump’s interest in Greenland is not going away”.”They know that Greenland is not for sale. They know that Greenland doesn’t want to be part of the United States,” she added, saying the message had been communicated “unambiguously.”- Dogsled visit dropped -Trump’s latest strident comments come as Vice President Vance is due to accompany his wife Usha on a visit to the US-run Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on Friday.Frederiksen and Greenland’s outgoing Prime Minister Mute Egede had earlier harshly criticized plans by a US delegation to visit the Arctic island uninvited for what was initially a much broader visit.Egede had characterized the initial plans as “foreign interference,” noting that the outgoing government had not “sent out any invitations for visits, private or official.”On Wednesday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen welcomed the decision to limit the visit to the US space base.”I think it’s very positive that the Americans have canceled their visit among Greenlandic society. They will only visit their own base, Pituffik, and we have nothing against that,” he told public broadcaster DR.Formerly known as Thule Air Base, the Pituffik Space Base is the United States’ northernmost military installation and supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance missions.The White House on Tuesday said the Vances’ visit to the space base would take place in lieu of the second lady’s scheduled visit to a dogsled race in Sisimiut, where an anti-US demonstration was reportedly planned.- ‘Respect this process’ -Greenlandic officials have repeatedly said the territory does not want to be either Danish or American, but is “open for business” with everyone.”There is no doubt we find ourselves in a tough situation,” Frederiksen said of Trump’s repeated comments on a takeover, predicting “a situation that will ebb and flow, maybe for a long time yet.”According to opinion polls, most Greenlanders support independence from Denmark but not annexation by Washington.Following March 11 elections, Greenland has only a transitional government, with parties still in negotiations to form a new coalition government.Marc Jacobsen, a senior lecturer at the Royal Danish Defense College, called the decision to limit the US visit “a de-escalation,” a term also used by Foreign Minister Lokke.”You do not come to another country when you haven’t been welcomed,” he told AFP.Jacobsen added that the planned anti-US demonstration in Sisimiut, after a similar protest in the capital Nuuk on March 15, may have also factored into Vance’s decision to contain the visit.

US authorities have detained a Turkish university student, the latest action taken against a foreign learner associated with pro-Palestinian campus activism as President Donald Trump cracks down on the movement.Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk was detained by federal agents late Tuesday in the town of Somerville, Massachusetts, the school’s president said in a statement.Ozturk filed a motion demanding authorities show lawful grounds for her detention and a judge issued a decision barring officers from removing her from Massachusetts, according to legal filings made public Tuesday.Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detainee locator tool showed that Ozturk was in custody Wednesday, although it did not state where.Ozturk co-authored an article in the university student newspaper The Tufts Daily in March 2024 criticizing the college’s handling of student anger around Israel’s war in Gaza.According to the newspaper, Ozturk is a doctoral candidate in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development.A protest was planned for 2130 GMT Wednesday in Somerville to oppose Ozturk’s detention, according to the Cambridge Day news site.Trump has targeted prestigious universities that became the epicenter of the US student protest movement sparked by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, stripping federal funds and directing immigration officers to deport foreign student demonstrators.Critics argue that the campaign amounts to retribution and will have a chilling effect on free speech, while its supporters insist it is necessary to restore order to campuses and protect Jewish students.At New York’s Columbia University, immigration officers detained one student, permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil whose lawyers are fighting his deportation, while a judge thwarted efforts to detain another, Yunseo Chung.Separately, a number of university professors sued the Trump administration in Massachusetts Tuesday, arguing its campaign targeting foreign academics was illegal.”The policy prevents or impedes Plaintiffs’ US citizen members from hearing from, and associating with, their non-citizen students and colleagues,” the lawsuit reads.In addition, the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers asked a New York judge to declare Trump’s slashing of $400 million from Columbia’s budget unconstitutional and to restore the funding.Columbia announced Friday a package of concessions to the Trump administration around defining anti-Semitism, policing protests and oversight for specific academic departments.They stopped short however of some of the more strenuous demands of the Trump administration, which nonetheless welcomed the Ivy League college’s proposals.

US President Donald Trump’s homeland security chief visited El Salvador on Wednesday for talks on migrant deportations and to see a mega-prison housing Venezuelans expelled by his administration.Relatives and Caracas say the 238 deported Venezuelans are innocent migrants, but Washington accuses them of belonging to the Tren de Aragua criminal gang, which it has designated a “terrorist” organization.The deportations “sent a message to the world that America is no longer a safe haven for violent criminals,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on social media before her visit.She welcomed the opportunity to see for herself “the detention center where the worst-of-the-worst criminals are housed,” on the first stop of a regional tour that will also include Colombia and Mexico.Noem said she would meet Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to discuss how the United States “can increase the number of deportation flights and removals of violent criminals from the US.”Trump invoked rarely used US wartime legislation to fly the Venezuelans to El Salvador on March 16, without the migrants being afforded any kind of court hearing.The deportations took place despite a US federal judge granting a temporary suspension of the expulsion order, and the men were taken in chains, their heads freshly shorn, to El Salvador’s maximum security “Terrorism Confinement Center” (CECOT).On Monday, a law firm hired by Caracas filed a habeas corpus petition, demanding justification be provided for the migrants’ continued detention.Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the motion seeks the release of countrymen he described as having been kidnapped.According to the White House, Washington paid the Bukele administration around $6 million for the detention of the deportees.- ‘Dangerous step’ -Rights group Amnesty International said the mass expulsion “represents not only a flagrant disregard of the United States’ human rights obligations, but also a dangerous step toward authoritarian practices.”It said there was “a clear and troubling connection” between Bukele’s methods and the recent US actions, as “both rely on a lack of due process and the criminalization of individuals based on discriminatory criteria.”Bukele is hailed at home for his crackdown on violent crime — with tens of thousands of suspected gangsters sent to the maximum security CECOT facility.Human rights groups have criticized the drive for a wide range of alleged abuses.Salvadoran Minister of Justice and Security Gustavo Villatoro will accompany Noem on the visit to CECOT, considered the largest prison in Latin America.Guarded by soldiers and police, the jail has high electrified walls and a capacity for 40,000 inmates, who are denied family visits.Human rights organizations have voiced concern that more innocent migrants risk being incarcerated at the prison.”There is growing evidence that many people who were sent to El Salvador are not part of Tren de Aragua, and that they are exposed to serious human rights violations,” said Juan Pappier, deputy Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “The main danger is that the US continues sending innocent people” to Salvadoran prisons, he told AFP.Salvadoran authorities have arrested more than 86,000 suspected gang members under Bukele’s crackdown, although several thousand were released after being found innocent.Collaborating with Trump “could be a risky move” for Bukele, despite the potential benefits, said Diego Chaves-Gonzalez, an analyst at the Migration Policy Institute in the United States.”It could also generate tensions if a future US administration considers that these practices violate human rights or affect bilateral cooperation,” he told AFP.Salvadoran analyst and academic Carlos Carcach said the cooperation would “reinforce the negative image” that the Central American country already has due to Bukele’s methods.”What we are witnessing is the consolidation of an authoritarian regime in El Salvador with the support of the world’s greatest power,” he said.